Craving The Blue Wolf Luna

The Beginning of a Deal

CHAPTER 4

LEILA’S POV

Alpha Alaric stood there, watching me through hooded eyes, his lips thinned, and I could see the annoyance burning in them before his gaze slowly lowered beneath his eyelids as he exhaled deeply.

“Fine. Two weeks. That’s all you have to convince me—but the minute your time is up, you will stand by my side and watch as each one of your precious family gets gutted.”

I swallowed thickly, my heart thumping fast behind my ribcage as self-doubts began to creep in. Do I want to risk this? How sure am I that I’d be able to convince him to spare their lives?

“Deal? Or are you having cold feet?” His voice dripped with snark, the edge of his lips raising in silent mockery.

I inhaled deeply, my fingers fisting by my side. “Deal.”

“Good.” He turned, pulled open the door, and walked off. My butt fell back on the bed as my entire body began shaking with fear, worry, anger, and anxiety for the future.

I’d just begun to close my eyes when I heard footsteps approaching. I looked up and came face-to-face with three soldiers.

“Get up and come with us,” one of them ordered but never gave me the chance before the other two walked to the sides of the bed, grabbed my forearms, and yanked me off—practically dragging me from the bed and out of the room.

“Hey! Stop! I can walk,” I protested, trying to dig my heels into the cemented floor, but my feet just kept skidding against it.

I tried tugging my arm from their holds, but it felt like I would end up with dislocated limbs if I kept trying too hard.

Finally, I gave up, and after what felt like an endless walk, we arrived at a large building that I assumed was the packhouse. From there, they marched me down a narrow hallway until we reached a different room, where I was roughly shoved inside.

I scrambled to my knees and turned to glare at the soldiers, but they’d already shut the door behind them. I huffed and looked around, immediately noticing the difference between this and my previous holding cell.

It was small, but a bit bigger than the previous one; there was a window, a bed, a table and chair in the corner, a small wardrobe pushed against the wall, and an open door to the left, opposite the bed, that served as the bathroom and toilet.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough.

I moved closer to the wardrobe, hoping to find something to change into when the door to my new room suddenly opened. I turned to find a woman standing at the threshold, dressed in the usual black-and-white maid attire, holding an old-looking piece of cloth in her hands.

I opened my mouth to speak, but she abruptly threw the cloth at my feet and walked away. I sighed, picking it up, assessing it for a few minutes, before going into the bathroom to clean up and change into this piece of cloth.

It was worn-out, with little tears and patches scattered across it, but besides that, it was still okay.

Then I sat down and began to plan my next move, but it was harder than I expected, especially with an empty stomach, and I constantly had to force myself to stay awake.

Soon I succumbed to the darkness and fell asleep, even as my stomach growled loudly with hunger.

***

“Your freedom stops here.”

I raised an eyebrow at the guard. “Excuse me?”

“You’re not allowed to leave the packhouse,” he said firmly.

“Why not? You just let that maid walk through,” I pointed out, gesturing at the maid who was walking off in the distance.

“This rule only applies to you, prisoner,” the other sneered. “The Alpha has ordered that your movements be restricted to the packhouse and not beyond it. You should be grateful that he didn’t lock you up in the dungeon along with your family.”

I blinked, taking a step back at the hostility in his voice. It was clear that I wasn’t welcome here, but at the very least, they could try to be civil about it.

I sighed, walking away as I realized that the first step to my well-thought-out plan had been completely thwarted. Annoyance rose within me as I realized that this was his plan to stop me from seeking the truth.

But this arrogant Alpha is about to be disappointed, because I do not give up easily.

No worries, I’d just go with plan B.

If I can’t do the investigation myself, then I’ll have to convince him to do it. And to do that, I have to gain his trust… which means… getting close to him. I frowned. Might as well use the mate bond to my advantage, I decided before heading to the kitchen.

“You! What are you doing?! You’re to steam the vegetables, not overboil them. Bring them out with a sieve, quick!” I walked in on the head chef yelling at one of the maids as she snatched up a cloth and carried the aluminum pot off the stove.

“How are we doing with the bread? Be quick about it! It’s almost time for lunch,” she yelled again, and my stomach grumbled loudly as the smell of hot, fresh steak wafted into my nostrils. “How may I help you?” I jerked suddenly back to reality, realizing that she was talking to me.

“I want to help out… in the kitchen.” My request must have been bizarre, because everyone suddenly stopped working and turned to look at me in silence.

The head chef noticed this and barked at them to mind their business. Then she turned to me with a deep frown. “And why is that? You’re a prisoner, not a maid.”

“I know that, but I can’t sit locked up in my room, and I can’t leave the packhouse either, so I thought it’d be better to make myself useful somehow.”

The head chef was skeptical; her eyes kept narrowing to the point that they were almost closed. I wondered if she was even able to see me.

“Doing this will not change the Alpha’s mind.”

“I know that.”

“And you better not try anything funny either, understand?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I replied, and she snorted before shoving a large spoon into my hands. “Handle the soup. If it wasn’t for the Alpha, I wouldn’t let you sniff my kitchen.”

My head tilted slightly to the side as I had no idea why she said that, but I didn’t bother to ask.

***

I was starting to regret that I volunteered to work here. It was hell!

Long after the head chef left the kitchen, it felt like the atmosphere had quadrupled in tension.

First, I was receiving death glares, feeling their gazes boring holes into my skin like they could slice my head right off my neck. Secondly, they ruined the soup!

Someone bumped into me while I was adding salt, sending the entire container right into the pot, and they just started laughing while I was freaking the f**k out.

The head chef arrived, yelling at the top of her lungs, insulting my culinary skills before sending me to my room.

Safe to say my second plan was a complete flop as well.

“Oh goddess, you’re not making this easy for me.”

My stomach grumbled again, and I regretted not stealing a warm loaf of bread before leaving the kitchen.

My eyes closed. “Well, tomorrow is a new day,” I said aloud, and just as I felt myself slipping into sleep, someone banged on my door.

“The head chef has called for you.” I jerked upright and immediately scurried to the door.

When I arrived at the kitchen, it was absolutely chaotic—pots clanging, voices shouting over one another.

“Take this.” A maid shoved a tray into my arms, and I had to crouch slightly to stop its contents from spilling. “Go with them and deliver this to the Alpha’s room, now!” she yelled before darting back into the chaotic kitchen.

“Come on, prisoner, we don’t have all day,” the other maids, who had similar trays in their hands, said with a cunning smile, and I knew right then and there that this was another set-up.